Happy 2020 and a Few Last Finishes for 2019

Happy 2020 Everyone!

After taking a few weeks away from the longarm portion of my business, I am feeling much more refreshed.  I used the time to get my household organized, update all my business spreadsheets and plan on some goals for the new year.

I feel like I have a pretty good plan!

I did want to go back and share some of the final gift items I made.  Potholders are always a popular and well received gift.  I did try some round ones this year.  Even though I had cut my binding on the bias, the first one I sewed looked more like one of my bowl cozies!  It took me a bit to not stretch the binding as I sewed it on.  They were a lot harder than they looked.

I do have an old tutorial on how I quilt my potholders.  

I don't like to quilt the Insulbrite because I think they then allow steam through.

I also made a bunch of napkin sets from fabric in my stash.

I make them the same way I make my tablecloths.  I posted a tutorial here.

I am so glad I won't have to be making any more gifts.  They are not my favorite thing to sew.  I am looking forward to getting out my bins of colorful scraps and start sewing.

What are your sewing plans for this year?

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My Weekend Accomplishments

When Paula of The Sassy Quilter posted some great photos of how easy it is for all those quilting projects to get a bit out of control in one's home, I took a look around my place and saw a lot of the same scenarios.  Like me, I think Paula likes to start things.  So we got together and made a finishing pact for the weekend!

Our goal was one quilty accomplishment but once I got on a roll, I found I had quite a few projects close to completion and was able to get a number of things on to that "finished" pile. 

First, I finished up these potholders.  I had posted about them here but still had not sewn the binding on the second one.  (sigh!)

This finish was an easy one.  And it checks off a holiday gift as being done!

Yay!!

And as I was all set up for sewing potholders, I decided to finish up these four that have been in varying stages for over a year.


These were made from some old orphan blocks that I didn't want to make into a quilt.  Now hopefully they will find a home!

I also finished sewing up the quilt top from Amy Smart's Double Crossed pattern.  I made the quilt a little larger than the pattern so it finished out at about 60" by 70".

I hope to get it quilted up next week and will share some better photos.  I made my quilt a little scrappier than the pattern (of course) and like the effect of having two colors of diamonds.

I think this will make a great TV watching quilt!!

The big accomplishment for the weekend was piecing and quilting and binding these four scrap quilts.  You can read more about them here and here.









I now have this big stack of 8 quilts all ready to be delivered to a local charity that puts together bags of transitional necessities for children ages 1-17 who find themselves in a time of crisis.  They strive to include a quilt in every bag and they don't often get quilts for the older kids.   With the holidays coming, I know the need will be great.

So thanks Paula for the gentle nudge that cleaned up a whole lot of projects piling up around my home.  If I could have a few more productive weekends like this, I could really whittle down that far too big WIP list.  

I hope the momentum continues!!

Linking up with Stitch by Stitch for Anything Goes Monday, Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River and Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.